


But I really am a Sorcerer!

by BlueTeller



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gen, Humor, King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Magic Revealed, Merlin is So Done (Merlin), Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Morgana is Up to Something as usual, Oblivious Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Oblivious Morgana Pendragon (Merlin), Pendragon Obliviousness, everyone is oblivious, extreme obliviousness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:27:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28834872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueTeller/pseuds/BlueTeller
Summary: Merlin finally gathers his courage and tells Arthur about his magic. ...The problem is, Arthur doesn't believe him. It appears the convincing part will be much more difficult than dealing with the aftermath...(Reveal fic with humor, starring: the Extremely Oblivious Camelot Royalty.)
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 137





	1. Attempt Number 1

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, it's been a while with this one, too! But it never fails to amuse me.

This was it. This was the day. Merlin knew this with absolute certainty, he could feel it as surely as magic pulsing through his veins.

This was the day Arthur would learn the truth. That he, Merlin, the so-called idiotic, incompetent manservant... was a sorcerer.

He'd been contemplating how and when to tell the King for a while now. He thought about every possible scenario, every outcome, including the worst ones - where Arthur would banish him or sentence him to death by pyre. But eventually, he realized he believed full-heartedly it wouldn't come to that. Yes, Arthur would probably feel angry and betrayed at first, throwing him into the dungeon in his rage, perhaps he'd need a couple of days to cool down and talk to him again. But Merlin was prepared. He had faith in destiny, and their friendship.

It was time for the Once and Future King to know, and it was better that he'd learn it from his own lips than in the heat of battle or from their enemies. This was the right way, and Merlin was not afraid.

Merlin gulped as he stood in front of the door to Arthur's bedchamber.

...Alright, so maybe he was a little nervous.

With a deep sigh, he pulled the door open and walked in.

" _Mer_ lin, for God's sake, don't you _ever_ knock?" the King snapped irritably from his desk not even rising his eyes, apparently suffering through composing a speech.

The warlock forced his nerves to calm down and replied cheekily:

"You just can't make up your mind, can you? First it's, 'You know you don't have to knock, Merlin,' then it's 'Why can't you knock, Merlin,' then it's..."

"Shut up, Merlin!"

"...Exactly."

"I'm _trying_ to concentrate."

"Oh, careful there."

" _Mer_ lin."

The servant's smile finally faded, replaced by a solemn expression. This was it.

"Arthur, I need to talk to you about something."

"Can't it wait?"

"No, it really can't."

Arthur stopped, surprised by the seriousness in his voice.

"Alright," he frowned, putting his quill down.

Merlin took a deep breath.

"Arthur."

There was a long pause.

"Yes, that is my name. Now what is it?"

Merlin almost snorted, but he was way too nervous to muster any sense of humor. His eyes rested on his feet despite himself. He couldn't look Arthur in the eye when he said it.

"I'm..." His voice shook, but he swallowed and forced himself to continue: "...a sorcerer. I have magic."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Finally, after at least a minute of neither of them making a sound, Merlin dared to look up. The expression on Arthur's face didn't fit into any scenario Merlin had contemplated.

It was totally blank, except for one risen eyebrow.

"Uh... Arthur?"

"Merlin, my sword needs sharpening for this afternoon."

Merlin's jaw dropped. That was absolutely the last response to his confession he expected.

"W-what?"

"I said, _Mer_ lin, I need my sword sharpened for this afternoon. When you're done with that, take care of my laundry. Then muck the stables - and don't you dare slack off, I'll be checking."

"But... but..."

"Honestly, Merlin, are you deaf as well as incompetent? Hurry up! I need to finish this speech before noon."

The sorcerer finally closed his mouth, speechless and too shocked to protest. He walked out and closed the door behind him, only one thought in his mind.

What the hell just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note:
> 
> I'm baaaack! ...Sorta. At least, I had time to write something like this and post it, so I suppose I'm back? But believe me when I say I'm working on all of my stories, I haven't abandoned anything. I was extremely busy with personal issues and although I can't elaborate, know it wasn't anything trivial. I'm alive and I'm still writing!
> 
> So, this is my first attempt at writing Merlin and Arthur... did I get it right? Please let me know. I expect this to be about ten short chapters long.
> 
> Thank you for reading, please comment and follow and favorite if you can, but most importantly - read on and enjoy! :)


	2. Attempt Number 2

Merlin had never been so confused before.

As he was (for once in his life) obediently carrying out his King's orders, sharpening Arthur's sword - even polishing it! - with extra care and doing the laundry more thoroughly than usual, he couldn't help but wonder what in the name of all things Holy just happened.

Years. He had spent years worrying about his King's reaction to his magic, and when Merlin finally mustered the courage to confess... Arthur just... gave him chores?

What was he _thinking_?

Had Arthur _known_? Was that it? Did he just know already and didn't react beside a risen eyebrow because the news were so old, they didn't even warrant a better response? Merlin felt a bit offended. One would have thought a friend (and Merlin knew they were friends, two people didn't just risk their lives for each other on daily basis, no matter what Arthur claimed about the hardships of finding a suitable manservant) confessing to a decade-long deception and breaking the law punishable by death would have made a bigger impact. But _nooo_ , Arthur just kept ordering him around, as usual. Unbelievable!

Just then, as he was finishing mucking the stables, the epiphany hit Merlin with the strength of a horse.

_Arthur hadn't believed him._

Merlin cursed so viciously surely even Gwaine would have blushed.

"Goodness! Are you alright?" the stable-boy asked with shock mixed with concern.

"Excuse me, sorry, yes, I'm fine," Merlin rambled, smiling awkwardly in the most fake way possible as his thoughts reached the inevitable conclusion... that Arthur, without a doubt...

...was an absolute _prat_!

He hadn't believed him when Merlin said he had magic! He'd thought his manservant _was making a joke_!

As soon as the stable-boy turned around, Merlin hit his forehead. And Arthur called _him_ the idiot!

How the King could be this oblivious was beyond Merlin. Not noticing him occasionally using magic in battle, sure, maybe that wasn't too obvious, considering no one in Camelot had ever caught on except Lancelot - who'd seen Merlin cast a spell on his spear with his own eyes. But how could a man not see the truth when it was being stated to his face?

Then again, perhaps this shouldn't be so surprising, Merlin thought to himself sardonically. After all Arthur was an utter clotpole.

Hell, Merlin once confessed to sorcery in front of Uther and his whole council, and Arthur dismissed his claim without a second thought.

_"Merlin is a wonder but the wonder is, he's such an **idiot**! There's no way he's a sorcerer."_

Merlin groaned miserably to himself. How could he have forgotten that? Arthur believed him too stupid to be magic. Of course when Merlin just declared himself a sorcerer out of nowhere, he'd brush it off as a joke.

He needed to be more convincing.

With strengthened resolve, he directed his steps back to the King's chamber.

"Arthur!" he exclaimed, opening the door.

But it wasn't Arthur who greeted him. It was Gwen.

"Oh, hello Merlin," she smiled kindly, as always. But Merlin wasn't there to chat.

"Where's Arthur?" he asked urgently.

"You just missed him. He was-"

"Where did he go?"

"The reception hall... Is everything-?"

"I have to go, see you later!"

Merlin ran off, leaving a bewildered Queen behind.

"Arthur!" he called out, seeing the figure ahead of him.

The King turned around, his distracted glaze passing Merlin for a second before focusing on him, then turning to confusion.

"Merlin?"

"Listen, Arthur, I-"

"God, you stink!" Arthur covered his nose in disgust.

"Well, that's what happens when you much the stables," Merlin stated impatiently, wanting to get to the point. "Anyway-"

"You just mucked the stables?"

"Yes, dollop head, now pay attention-"

"Did you sharpen my sword too?"

"Yes, I even polished it, but-"

" _And_ you finished my laundry?"

"Yes, for God's sake, I finished all my chores, you prat! Now, can we please focus on the fact _that I'm a bloody sorcerer_?!"

Arthur stared at him with a baffled expression, and Merlin thought he finally got it.

But then... he started laughing.

"Arthur!"

For some reason, Merlin's indignant exclamation only made the King laugh harder.

"Your Highness, the guests are waiting for you in the reception hall," Sir Leon suddenly showed up, looking between the King and the servant curiously. "Am I interrupting something?"

"It's nothing," Arthur replied, trying to mask his mirth with coughs, and utterly failing. "Merlin just made a silly joke."

"I wasn't-!"

" _Mer_ lin, for the sake of everyone, go take a bath, your smell is going to scare everyone out of the castle."

"The King makes a valid point, Merlin," Sir Leon added solemnly. "You smell most terrible."

"But I-"

"Merlin," Arthur interrupted yet again. "I need to attend to our guests now. We'll talk later."

Merlin left extremely disgruntled, muttering complaints about idiotic Kings under his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note:
> 
> Here's more! I hope you like it? ;) I'm trying very hard to keep both Arthur and Merlin in character - if you have some tips, let me know.
> 
> Please review, follow and favorite if you can, but most importantly - read on and enjoy!


	3. Attempt Number 3

Taking a long, thorough bath to get rid of the horrible stable stench had one extra benefit - Merlin had time to cool his head and think of a new strategy.

So, Arthur didn't believe him... He thought his manservant was making an elaborate joke. While it meant there was hope that the delayed reaction would be less violent when the King finally realized he was being serious (and with Arthur's embarrassment over his thickheadedness, he might even forget about the _throw-the-sorcerer-into-the-dungeon_ part), the downside was that it made the course of future events dangerously unpredictable. Merlin had no choice now but to throw all of his previous what-if-scenarios out of the window, as well as his backup plans.

Strangely enough, Merlin had never even considered Arthur being in denial. Threats, anger, betrayal, accusations - those were all expected responses. But outright dismissal? After the warlock confessed, _twice_? He still couldn't quite wrap his mind around it.

Perhaps he just needed to be more persuasive, Merlin thought. He would show Arthur he was a real sorcerer! Merlin knew he had to get this over with as soon as possible, preferably today. Third time's the charm, as they say.

After all, there was no way convincing Arthur that he had magic could _possibly_ be more difficult than the King's reaction, right?

...Right?

* * *

Much to Merlin's annoyance, the guests occupied the King's time for the rest of the day. Arthur and Gwen ate all the meals with company, making it impossible for Merlin to find the former alone for a single minute. By the evening Arthur was exhausted, irritated and - of course - completely pratty. Regardless, Merlin decided to give it a shot.

"Arthur, listen, about earlier today-"

"Oh shut up, idiot!" Arthur snapped, tossing a quill at Merlin. "It's your fault the speech was all messed up!"

"The speech?" Merlin blinked in surprise. "You mean, the one you were writing in the morning?"

"Yes, _Mer_ lin, that one! It was a complete disaster!" Arthur angrily pointed at him. "And you're to blame!"

" _Me?_ "

"Who else?! You should have double-checked it for me, but you were too busy mucking the stables to even take a quick look! I was embarrassed in front of my subjects because of you!"

"Forgive me, my King," Merlin said ostentatiously "for doing exactly what you told me to! You didn't mention anything about correcting your speech!"

"Not _correcting_ , you idiot, just double-checking to avoid ridiculous errors such as _this one_!"

Arthur shoved the parchment into Merlin's face, pointing at the last paragraph. The warlock grunted, glancing over the much-to-be-desired penmanship. When he finally found what Arthur's rage was all about, he couldn't help but snort in amusement.

"Oh, _funny_ , is it?" Arthur growled.

"Did you seriously say 'the utmost importance to _exorcise caution_ '? In front of a crowd?" Merlin snickered. "I can't believe I missed that!"

"It was supposed to be ' _exercise caution_ ', Merlin, but because you're such a lazy, incompetent servant, it took you until the arrival of the guests to finish your chores! And then it was too late!"

Merlin huffed. "Well _excuse me_! You should have said you needed my help ahead of time!"

"I did not _need_ your _help_ , I am perfectly capable of writing my own speeches!"

"The ' _exorcised caution_ ' of this one tells me otherwise," Merlin smirked.

"In case you forgot I am the King, _Mer_ lin, and you will treat me _and_ my speeches with due respect!"

"Oh I am so sorry - the ' _exorcised caution_ ' of this one tells me otherwise, _Sire_."

Arthur chose that moment to throw an empty goblet at Merlin's head. Thankfully, Merlin had been prepared and ducked flawlessly.

"Tomorrow, you are polishing every armor of every knight in this castle," Arthur declared, glaring at Merlin.

The warlock's eyes widened in horror. " _What_!"

"Perhaps this will teach you to hurry up with your duties in the future."

"But...!"

"So you better hurry up to bed, Merlin, you have a long day ahead of you," Arthur looked unbearably, unfairly smug over what he considered his victory in their verbal sparring. Merlin fumed with frustration.

"Well, just so you know," the manservant crossed his arms. "It doesn't matter to me at all, since I'm going to use _magic_ to polish them all anyway!" He pointed at Arthur's chest triumphantly. "You know, because I am a sorcerer!"

Arthur deadpanned at him.

"Alright, that's it. Who was it? Was it Gwaine?"

"What?" Merlin blinked in confusion. "What does Gwaine have to do with anything?"

"Who made this ridiculous bet to have you convince me that you have magic?" Arthur replied as if it was obvious. "Because, just to be clear, it isn't going to work."

Merlin's jaw dropped in outrage. "You think this is about a bet?!"

"I know it is, _Mer_ lin," the King rolled his eyes. "We all know you're too much of an idiot to comprehend magic, let alone be a sorcerer."

"But I _am-_!"

"You are what, Merlin?" Gwen suddenly entered, looking curious. "What are you talking about?"

"Uh..." Not good, Merlin thought nervously. "I am... cleverer than I look?"

The Queen turned an unimpressed gaze upon her husband. "Arthur, did you call Merlin an idiot again?"

"Well he _is_ one, Guinevere, you know that as well as I do," Arthur said defensively.

"Whatever," Merlin mumbled, strangely relieved and disappointed at the same time, knowing they would not be finishing this discussion today no matter what he did. "I'll see you tomorrow, prat."

"One more word _Mer_ lin, and I swear to God, I'm arranging a _long_ meeting between you and the stocks. I'm sure they've missed your company."

Gwen sighed tiredly. "Arthur."

The King coughed awkwardly. "Very well..."

Merlin closed the door behind him, rubbing his face with exasperation.

That's it. Tomorrow, he was using magic in front of Arthur, all caution be damned. There's no way the King wouldn't believe him after that. After personally witnessing Merlin perform spells he would have no choice but to acknowledge him as a magic-user, right?

... _Right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note:
> 
> Enter, Gwen! Was she in-character? Were Arthur and Merlin in-character? Will any other characters be in-character?
> 
> Who the heck knows! I guess we'll found out next chapter! :D
> 
> You're welcome to give tips and ideas for future "attempts" - I have most of them planned, but I'm always open for new inspirations.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, please review, follow and favorite if you can, but most importantly, don't forget to read on and enjoy! ;)


	4. Attempt Number 4

Filled with optimism after one of the rare nights of good sleep, Merlin happily tottered to Arthur's bedchamber with a breakfast plate. Usually the King would prefer to eat with his wife at the table in the dining hall so they could enjoy each other's company. However, today the Queen got up earlier in order to attend to one of the noble Ladies in some urgent matter, leaving her grouchy husband all by himself - even marriage couldn't turn him into a morning person, it seemed. It was the perfect chance for Merlin, to show Arthur some of his magic without any witnesses.

Merlin wasn't sure why he was so reluctant to let Gwen too - once Arthur believed him, she would be the next to hear all about his magic, no doubt.

Perhaps it was because he wanted Arthur to know _first_. Or perhaps because he wanted to be alone with the King when he revealed the truth, predicting the moment to be not only a little dangerous, but a whole lot personal. While he'd fully expected Arthur to throw a tantrum as huge as his ego, the last thing Merlin wanted was to have another friend to deal with at the same time.

Even though for years Merlin had been dreading Arthur's wrath upon the discovery of his 'treachery', truthfully, he'd never worried about Gwen's reaction. ...At least, he was sure she wouldn't run through the castle screaming ' _Sorcerer!_ ' at the top of her lungs, so that was a perk. She had always been a good friend, kind and patient and understanding... if anyone in Camelot was going to accept him for what he was, it would be her. And once Merlin won Arthur over, the warlock knew she would faithfully support her husband's decision, no matter how frightening magic could seem to her personally.

Also, Merlin quietly admitted to himself, he wanted to avoid bringing up all the dangers he'd saved Arthur from in her presence. She didn't need to know everything - the most important parts, sure, but... he didn't think she'd take it well if she found out just how many times Arthur came close to death. Honestly, Merlin himself didn't feel comfortable just thinking about it.

Shaking away the morbid topic from his mind, Merlin stopped in front of the door. This was it.

Grinning maniacally to himself, he whispered:

" _Flêoge._ "

Instantly, the plate levitated from his hand, hovering just above his palm. Merlin's grin widened.

He spent at least half an hour last night thinking which spell to show Arthur. At first he was tempted to do something spectacular, like making it rain, creating flames out of thin air or turning Arthur's chair into a pig... that would have been hilarious. Unfortunately, the rational part of Merlin decided that if he wanted the King's first response _not_ to be throwing him into the dungeon, he shouldn't mess around too much. Just a simple spell, something so visible and so obvious even an utter clotpole like Arthur wouldn't be able to ignore it. The levitation spell worked perfectly for that purpose.

Merlin opened the door with certainly more enthusiasm and less nervousness than yesterday (he just couldn't _wait_ to see Arthur's face), unluckily forgetting the threshold in his excitement. The manservant tripped, falling flat on his face with a thud.

"Ow," Merlin mumbled in pain and embarrassment.

He waited for a mocking comment from Arthur, but a few seconds passed and there was none. Merlin glanced upwards, suddenly remembering the plate he left in the air. It was still there, hovering in the most obvious, ' _I-am-defying-gravity-by-magic!_ ' kind of way. Still, no response from Arthur.

Merlin stood up quickly, looking around. Arthur was sitting at his desk, completely engrossed in the letter he was reading, and absolutely unaware of an enchanted plate levitating next to his servant.

The sorcerer coughed. No response. Not even an acknowledgement.

"Er... Arthur? I brought you breakfast."

"Uhuh," Arthur said, not moving his eyes from the letter.

Merlin crossed his arms, tapping his foot.

"Would you, I don't know, _look at me_ , please?"

"No need to," Arthur replied absentmindedly. "I've seen enough of your ugly face for a lifetime."

Merlin's face turned indignant. "My face's _not_ ugly!" he exclaimed. In hope of provoking Arthur to look at him, he added: "If anyone's ugly here, it's you. You're such an ass I could mistake you for a donkey. Oh wait, you are - you even had the ears to prove it once."

Arthur's cheeks flushed, as he strained out: "I thought we agreed to _never. Mention. That. Again._ "

"Forgive me, your majesty," Merlin rolled his eyes, irritated that he was _so close_ and yet Arthur still didn't even glance in his direction. "I'm afraid it slipped my mind. Do you want your damn breakfast or not?"

"Just put it on the table," Arthur dismissed him with a wave of hand.

Merlin narrowed his eyes. He turned to the plate and focused his magic on it. The plate swooped through the air, landing loudly on the desk.

" _Mer_ lin," Arthur drawled with exasperation. "Don't throw the King's plates. You can't afford to replace them."

Merlin threw his hands in the air with disbelief.

"I suppose telling you I just used magic to do that is pointless, since you weren't even looking?"

Arthur snorted. "Nice try, Merlin. Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?"

"What do you mean?"

"If I remember correctly, yesterday I promised you would get to polish all of my knights' armors."

Merlin moaned miserably. "I hoped you forgot about that."

"Unlikely. Well, get going! They are not going to polish themselves, you know," Arthur smirked, his eyes never leaving the letter in his hands.

"Yes, they will!" Merlin replied, sounding like whiny kid despite himself. "Because I've got magic, you know!"

" _Right._ "

"But it's true, Arthur! I really am a sorcerer!"

" _Mer_ lin, you-"

"Excuse me, your highness?" The servant named George, whom Merlin always thought creepy for some reason, suddenly walked in. Merlin was astonished, George forgetting to knock? The world must have been ending. "The Queen requests your presence in the banquet hall immediately."

Arthur sighed and stood up. "Very well. Merlin, go and do your chores for once. I'm expecting my knight's armors to be in top condition before the afternoon training."

"But-!"

"Lead the way, George."

"Yes, Sire."

Merlin watched Arthur leave the chamber, shaking his head.

"Surely, Kilgharrah made a mistake," he muttered to himself. "There's no way that imbecile is the Once and Future King. He can't be _that_ stupid, right?" Then Merlin rubbed his face and looked at the ceiling with a sigh. "Why me? Just _why_?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note:
> 
> ...Poor Merlin. Poor, poor Merlin.
> 
> I don't pity him at all xD
> 
> Thank you for reading, please comment and give kudos and bookmark if you can, but most importantly - read on and enjoy! :)


	5. Attempt Number 5

If anyone had been present to witness Merlin's face, it would have been impossible to deny that the Great Warlock Emrys, who - as promised - was polishing the knights' armors with his incredible magic powers, currently possessed the expression worthy of a very grumpy child.

It wasn't like he didn't have every reason to! The task itself might have been laughably easy with magic, even if it did require concentration. Not every sorcerer could levitate five brushes at the same time. But it wasn't the chore that made Merlin sulky. Arthur, the King of Prats, once again failed to see reason and believe that his manservant was a sorcerer, despite being repeatedly told to his self-absorbed face.

If this was the foreshadowing of things to come, Arthur was going to declare Merlin officially _insane_ once he tried explaining that he was the Most Powerful Sorcerer of All Time and the Last Dragonlord to boot.

Merlin sighed hopelessly.

 _This is ridiculous_ , he thought with irritation, causing the flying brushes to collide in mid-air. _They've arrested me for sorcery before_ _, several times! It's not that hard to believe that I'm magic, is it?_

Admittedly Arthur wasn't among those who actually _believed_ those charges, but still. Morgana had magic, right? And she used to be Uther's ward, she was, like, the least likely person in Camelot to develop the skill beside Arthur and Uther himself! So what was the big deal? Anyone could be magic!

"Even _these_ are magic right now!" Merlin spoke aloud, glaring at the enchanted tools as if they had committed personal offence. "Ordinary inanimate objects! Arthur's throne could be magic, his fruit-stand could be magic - hell, even his _sword_ , which I forged for his ungrateful arse is _triple-damn-magic_!" He growled with frustration. "There is so much magic in this God-forsaken kingdom I wonder how anyone can believe they're free of it! But nooo, 'Don't be ridiculous _Mer_ lin, of course you don't have _magic_ , you're too much of an-'"

A loud crash interrupted his angry rant, making all the brushes clutter against the floor. "Huh?"

Merlin looked outside the window. In the middle of the courtyard, there was a man wearing a dark cloak, cursing at the spilled bucked he apparently just tripped on. Merlin was about to call out and ask the stranger if he was alright, but the words stuck in his mouth when the man's eyes suddenly glowed.

 _A magic-user_ , Merlin thought incredulously as he watched the spilled contents return into the bucket. _A sorcerer. Using **magic**. In broad daylight?!_

The man, completely unaware of the eyes on him, fixed his cloak in an offended manner and continued on. Merlin quickly looked around in disbelief but the guards, who were standing less than thirty feet away, acting as if nothing happened. The cloaked figure quickly disappeared behind the corner.

Wait a minute.

Mysterious character never seen before... check.

Suspicious choice of clothing... check.

Enchanted guards... check. (...or perhaps they were just incompetent. Not very surprising.)

Sneaking around with obviously malicious intent... check.

Sorcerer... covered face... arrogant confidence... check, check and _check_.

Merlin groaned.

"Can't I have just _one day_?" he complained to the sky. " _One day_ free of foiling obnoxious assassination attempts? Is it too much to ask for?!"

It didn't take Merlin long to catch up the sorcerer. Except, he wasn't alone. As if this day wasn't _lucky_ enough, there was a whole gathering of sorcerers.

Within the citadel. All eight of them. With all the guards blissfully arrogant to the blatant conspiracy.

Merlin wondered for the hundredth time how for the love of all things Camelot had survived without him for twenty years because it had to be due to divine intervention.

But that wasn't everything, oh no. Apparently this wasn't typical enough, because from what Merlin managed to overhear in the whole two minutes of inconspicuous spying (why do people repeat their plans out loud for anyone to hear in the enemy's territory, anyway?) Ralf the Rancorous and his Ruthless Rangers of Retaliation (were they _seriously_ calling themselves that? Ugh, magic-users had no dignity left these days...) wanted to - what else? - kill Arthur.

Oh, and help Morgana take over Camelot.

How... exasperatingly commonplace.

But at least the strategy was somewhat original, because unlike other intruders, they planned to make themselves invisible (with a powerful artifact which Merlin had never heard of - where do these people find those random magical objects all the time was a mystery in itself) before infiltrating the castle after sunset. Why didn't they do that _before_ entering the citadel, Merlin had no clue, but it was pretty convenient. He remembered reading something about illusions in his spell-book recently and he was sure there was a counter-charm, one which could easily be casted in secret on Arthur and his knights so they could protect themselves from hidden foes.

Satisfied the information and his new-formed plan, Merlin decided to retreat.

But then, of course, everything that possibly could go wrong... went wrong. The guards finally became aware that something suspicious was going on (eight cloaked men whispering in the shadows - nope, nothing unusual here!), but the accusation didn't fall on the men - who turned out to be better at disappearing than Merlin initially thought - because no, that would make things way too easy for the secret Camelot protector.

The one the guards arrested was no other than Merlin.

* * *

Sir Leon couldn't help but sigh tiredly, but it was obvious he wasn't surprised.

"Really, Merlin? _Again_?"

Merlin's lips twisted in a sardonic grin.

"Just another day in Camelot, right?"

Gwaine laughed openly, while the other Knights of the Round Table snickered with little-to-no subtlety.

"But seriously, Merlin," Gwaine said conversationally, as if Merlin weren't being held by two guards with increasingly confused expressions (not their fault really, seeing as they were new on the job), arrested on charge of breaking the law punishable by death, "This is what, the fifth time you've been accused of sorcery?"

"Sixth, actually," the warlock corrected him.

"Well done, mate! I think you've broken all records!"

"No, Gaius told me he's been accused seven times, so not yet."

"Ah, pity. Let me know when you do, I'll buy you a pint."

The guards exchanged disbelieving glances.

"But Sir! This man had been witnessed committing the most heinous crime known in this kingdom!"

"And who is your witness?" Sir Elyan asked calmly.

"Miss Margery, the new kitchen maid."

"The jumpy one?" Merlin spoke with disbelief. "But... that girl is completely paranoid! And you just _believed_ her without any evidence?"

"Quiet, sorcerer! She saw you using magic in the courtyard!"

"You mean the spilled bucket incident? I don't look even remotely like that guy!"

"You actually _saw_ the sorcery take place, Merlin?" Leon looked at him with a risen eyebrow.

"Well... yeah?"

"If that's true, then why didn't you report it immediately?"

"Excuse me if I was too busy following the guy who did it!" Merlin huffed.

"Wait, so you spotted a sorcerer inside Camelot and just decided it was a good idea to go and confront him _yourself_?"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "It's not like the _guards_ were going to do anything about it."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" the guard on the right growled angrily.

Merlin gulped. Somehow he had failed to notice that the man had brawn, and _lots_ of it. He almost rivaled Percival's built. Up so close, it was a little harder to miss.

"I, uh, you see, I was just saying..." Merlin stuttered awkwardly.

" ** _Where is that idiotic servant of mine?!_** "

Suddenly the King himself stormed in, causing the guards to abruptly straighten their backs, jerking the warlock and saving him from finishing his doomed-to-fail attempt of placation.

" _There_ you are _Mer_ lin! What was so important that you didn't finish-" Arthur stopped in mid-sentence, finally registering the scene he'd stumbled upon. "What is the meaning of this?"

It was the guards' turn to gulp nervously.

"Guess what, Princess?" Gwaine grinned at Arthur, unperturbed by the King's irritated demeanor. "Merlin here is apparently a sorcerer!"

Arthur just looked at Gwaine blankly for a moment. Then he looked at his knights questionably. Elyan and Percival just shrugged, Leon sighed again. The guards looked more nervous with every passing second.

The King finally turned to Merlin, who smiled like a goof. "Look, Arthur, as much as I actually am a- _AUCH!_ " He yelped as Arthur smacked him on the head. "What was that for?!"

"This has to be the stupidest stunt you've pulled whole week, Merlin, and that's saying something," Arthur replied. "If you think you're getting out of your chores by spending the rest of the day in the dungeon, you have another thing coming!"

"Wait, that's not-"

" _Not another word!_ Now, idiot, go finish your chores like the barely semi-competent servant you're supposed to be while I straight out this ridiculous mess you've made."

"B-but, Arthur, there is a-"

The King interrupted with a stern look.

" _Mer_ lin."

"Yes?"

"Shut. Up."

"But-!"

"Ah!" Arthur put a finger on his mouth. "Shut it."

Merlin sighed with resignation. "Yes, Sire."

Arthur's smirk was almost imperceptible, a sign that he wasn't all that angry with his manservant, just pretended to for the sake of appearances. "Good. Now _scram_ , you dollop head."

"That's my word," Merlin muttered sullenly under his breath.

But, there was no use of continuing this argument - not that Merlin actually managed to say anything of importance. It seemed that convincing Arthur of his magic would take a little more of careful planning, but it wasn't on the top of his priority list right now. What was currently the more pressing matter was stopping the Invisible Ruthless Rangers of Retaliation and their Rancorous leader, so Morgana wouldn't take over Camelot.

Oh, and there was still lots of armor left for him to polish... Just wonderful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Author's Note:
> 
> The plot thickens! ...sort of. xD
> 
> Oh, how much I love honoring my comments! (cough, subtle begging for more, cough) Thank you all for your encouragement and ideas, I really appreciate them!
> 
> Thanks for reading, please comment and give kudos and bookmark if you can, but most importantly - read on and enjoy! :)


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